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Volrath
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I'm a journalist/author with a fondness of RPG Making and an aversion to leaving projects unfinished - great for satisfaction, not so much for quantity. I'm married and live in Cromwell, CT with my wife, twin sons, and the dog.
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Announcing Mistress of the Wind
Personally, I'm looking forward to the new writing challenges that this presents. I know you might be thinking "Well, if the story is the same not much should change just because all the genders have been reversed," but there's more too it than that. The internet has taught me that female characters must be completely believable but also not have any flaws that could suggest bad things about women as a whole because, obviously, each individual female character is not just representing herself but representing ALL women. Catherine, Bonita and Finleigh have a lot of responsibility!
X-Noir Review
Thanks for this! I'm surprised how kind you were to the combat aspect of the game, given that the overall poor reception of it was the major reason why ArtBane couldn't bring himself to put together a final boss fight. In the end, that doesn't seem to have hurt the game as much as I initially feared, maybe because the boss fight before that kinda feels like an end boss.
As for the aesthetic problem, it's certainly not news to us at this point. It would have been awesome to have a visual overhaul but art is always something we have to get outside folks to help with and I don't think this one would be successful on Kickstarter, so I suppose we gotta just take our lumps. I just hope that nobody comes away from this with the message that certain subject matter is off-limits to VX Ace because of its art style. That just seems sad.
I'd like to take some time to explain my reasoning for how I handled Eddie's story. This is not an attempt to dismiss your points, which as usual are very reasonable. It probably will come as no surprise that a lot of this game (as well as Labyrinthine Dreams) was inspired by my own experiences with depression. I never got nearly as out of control as Eddie, but one thing that I know to be true is that for people who are that depressed, it doesn't matter how good the rest of their life seems. Robin Williams is a brutal example of this. "Counting your blessings" is not something that comes naturally in this state. For people who don't have experience with it (through their own struggles or being close to someone who struggles), it can't help but come off as inherently unreasonable. Depression is always telling you that you suck and that life is meaningless regardless of what's happening around you. Ironically, the reason Eddie still gets along well with most people is probably in part thanks to the alcohol, which tends to calm his anxieties and has become his de facto medication.
Of course, this isn't to say that I wrote Eddie perfectly. I clearly didn't. I think it would have helped his arc to introduce more of the characters earlier, you mentioned Artie but Regina is the one I think of. But even though I had the basics of the central mystery planned early on, the cast wasn't as well-planned out. Regina was basically supposed to appear for one scene and then I noticed what she was bringing out in Eddie and knew she would be important. I think you're right about the therapy sessions too, although it was my feeling that Eddie hadn't been seeing her for long and would be reluctant to get too deep early on and instead focus on superficial annoyances in his life.
If we did this game again, it'd be a lot better. But I guess we should do Master of the Wind first...
As for the aesthetic problem, it's certainly not news to us at this point. It would have been awesome to have a visual overhaul but art is always something we have to get outside folks to help with and I don't think this one would be successful on Kickstarter, so I suppose we gotta just take our lumps. I just hope that nobody comes away from this with the message that certain subject matter is off-limits to VX Ace because of its art style. That just seems sad.
I'd like to take some time to explain my reasoning for how I handled Eddie's story. This is not an attempt to dismiss your points, which as usual are very reasonable. It probably will come as no surprise that a lot of this game (as well as Labyrinthine Dreams) was inspired by my own experiences with depression. I never got nearly as out of control as Eddie, but one thing that I know to be true is that for people who are that depressed, it doesn't matter how good the rest of their life seems. Robin Williams is a brutal example of this. "Counting your blessings" is not something that comes naturally in this state. For people who don't have experience with it (through their own struggles or being close to someone who struggles), it can't help but come off as inherently unreasonable. Depression is always telling you that you suck and that life is meaningless regardless of what's happening around you. Ironically, the reason Eddie still gets along well with most people is probably in part thanks to the alcohol, which tends to calm his anxieties and has become his de facto medication.
Of course, this isn't to say that I wrote Eddie perfectly. I clearly didn't. I think it would have helped his arc to introduce more of the characters earlier, you mentioned Artie but Regina is the one I think of. But even though I had the basics of the central mystery planned early on, the cast wasn't as well-planned out. Regina was basically supposed to appear for one scene and then I noticed what she was bringing out in Eddie and knew she would be important. I think you're right about the therapy sessions too, although it was my feeling that Eddie hadn't been seeing her for long and would be reluctant to get too deep early on and instead focus on superficial annoyances in his life.
If we did this game again, it'd be a lot better. But I guess we should do Master of the Wind first...
Gamergate Target Zoe Quinn Launches Anti-Harassment Support Network
I'll probably regret this.
I don't think "SJWs" should be confused with otherwise un-involved people who have progressive views. It's my understanding that "SJW" is a pejorative aimed at people who lurk on social media, forums and comment sections looking for a fight about their pet issues, not just anyone who happens to hold liberal/progressive views. These views are very prevalent among people who work in art, entertainment and journalism. This makes people more likely to sympathize with the views of "SJWs" even if they don't go to the same lengths to promote those views. Rather than some conspiracy, I think the reality is your average progressive person isn't comfortable with bullying and harassment, especially when identity politics comes into play. That seems much more plausible to me than a phrase like "Social Justice compromised" which makes it sound like some government agency is involved. There was no coercion involved. People just disagree with GamerGate folks and find their methods repulsive.
On that note, Max, you made some points about GamerGate in general that I find interesting, even if I don't particularly agree. But when you talk about Zoe Quinn, you sound like a deranged madman. I simply can not fathom having that amount of anger towards someone I've never met, even if what her ex-boyfriend says is 100% accurate, which I doubt. I think Dick Cheney is a liar and war criminal with a lot of blood on his hands and I still wouldn't put out an unhinged rant like that because...well, it would make me look crazy. Those posts where you threw every name in the book at her as if her ex-boyfriend was your close personal friend are deeply uncomfortable to read and I don't think I'm alone in that reaction.
You know, I'm a journalist myself (news, not games, thank God) and I had issues with game journalism long before GamerGate was a thing. One example is the Flappy Bird thing, when game sites wrote articles about how the developer was making a fortune off "ripped" graphics without bothering to prove that accusation. Another was the incident that got Phil Fish to cancel Fez 2. I know everyone loves to hate on the guy, but he wasn't the instigator in that case - it was the journalist who went on a podcast or something and called him all sorts of names just because he wouldn't give a comment for an article he was working on. I've been there, where you need a comment from someone and they leave you high and dry. It sucks, but you don't go out and criticize them in public because nobody HAS to talk to you. I was amazed that it was Fish who caught all the shit for that and not the other guy.
So when I heard that there was an online controversy about ethics in video game journalism, incidents like those were what I expected to read about. Instead, after opening a LOT of tabs on my browser to get the background, it seemed like GamerGate's primary concern was that game sites weren't making big news out of Zoe Quinn's promiscuity, which, as has been said, isn't really the business of the general public. According to the ethics code of the Society of Professional Journalists, one of the core responsibilities of a journalist is to measure the news value of a story against the potential harm it could do. So honestly, they were actually being ethical by not going crazy with that story.
The other stuff they cited seemed off-base too. There was a frustration with the general prevalence of articles relating to issues of sexism and such, but frankly GamerGate's done a lot to keep that issue in the news so it seems counter-intuitive. Then there was the issue of conflict of interests, which is definitely a problem but the emphasis on indie games (or just Zoe Quinn's indie game) was frankly, bizarre. The major conflict of interest within game journalism is the symbiosis between these writers and the big AAA companies, but they don't seem interested in talking about that part of it.
One thing I will agree with GG on is that the wave of "gamers are dead" articles was incredibly stupid. You don't tell your core audience that they're irrelevant and then expect them to read your articles, that's just dumb.
So with all that in mind, if GamerGate's primary concern really was ethics in journalism, it's done a flat-out miserable job of bringing attention to those issues. After all the harassment incidents, it has no credibility whatsoever. And yes, that is probably unfair to the decent folks who have identified with the name, but there's not a whole we can do about that. I would suggest those people adopt a new hashtag and start over, hopefully with less sexism and an actual understanding of the issues they profess to care so much about.
I don't think "SJWs" should be confused with otherwise un-involved people who have progressive views. It's my understanding that "SJW" is a pejorative aimed at people who lurk on social media, forums and comment sections looking for a fight about their pet issues, not just anyone who happens to hold liberal/progressive views. These views are very prevalent among people who work in art, entertainment and journalism. This makes people more likely to sympathize with the views of "SJWs" even if they don't go to the same lengths to promote those views. Rather than some conspiracy, I think the reality is your average progressive person isn't comfortable with bullying and harassment, especially when identity politics comes into play. That seems much more plausible to me than a phrase like "Social Justice compromised" which makes it sound like some government agency is involved. There was no coercion involved. People just disagree with GamerGate folks and find their methods repulsive.
On that note, Max, you made some points about GamerGate in general that I find interesting, even if I don't particularly agree. But when you talk about Zoe Quinn, you sound like a deranged madman. I simply can not fathom having that amount of anger towards someone I've never met, even if what her ex-boyfriend says is 100% accurate, which I doubt. I think Dick Cheney is a liar and war criminal with a lot of blood on his hands and I still wouldn't put out an unhinged rant like that because...well, it would make me look crazy. Those posts where you threw every name in the book at her as if her ex-boyfriend was your close personal friend are deeply uncomfortable to read and I don't think I'm alone in that reaction.
You know, I'm a journalist myself (news, not games, thank God) and I had issues with game journalism long before GamerGate was a thing. One example is the Flappy Bird thing, when game sites wrote articles about how the developer was making a fortune off "ripped" graphics without bothering to prove that accusation. Another was the incident that got Phil Fish to cancel Fez 2. I know everyone loves to hate on the guy, but he wasn't the instigator in that case - it was the journalist who went on a podcast or something and called him all sorts of names just because he wouldn't give a comment for an article he was working on. I've been there, where you need a comment from someone and they leave you high and dry. It sucks, but you don't go out and criticize them in public because nobody HAS to talk to you. I was amazed that it was Fish who caught all the shit for that and not the other guy.
So when I heard that there was an online controversy about ethics in video game journalism, incidents like those were what I expected to read about. Instead, after opening a LOT of tabs on my browser to get the background, it seemed like GamerGate's primary concern was that game sites weren't making big news out of Zoe Quinn's promiscuity, which, as has been said, isn't really the business of the general public. According to the ethics code of the Society of Professional Journalists, one of the core responsibilities of a journalist is to measure the news value of a story against the potential harm it could do. So honestly, they were actually being ethical by not going crazy with that story.
The other stuff they cited seemed off-base too. There was a frustration with the general prevalence of articles relating to issues of sexism and such, but frankly GamerGate's done a lot to keep that issue in the news so it seems counter-intuitive. Then there was the issue of conflict of interests, which is definitely a problem but the emphasis on indie games (or just Zoe Quinn's indie game) was frankly, bizarre. The major conflict of interest within game journalism is the symbiosis between these writers and the big AAA companies, but they don't seem interested in talking about that part of it.
One thing I will agree with GG on is that the wave of "gamers are dead" articles was incredibly stupid. You don't tell your core audience that they're irrelevant and then expect them to read your articles, that's just dumb.
So with all that in mind, if GamerGate's primary concern really was ethics in journalism, it's done a flat-out miserable job of bringing attention to those issues. After all the harassment incidents, it has no credibility whatsoever. And yes, that is probably unfair to the decent folks who have identified with the name, but there's not a whole we can do about that. I would suggest those people adopt a new hashtag and start over, hopefully with less sexism and an actual understanding of the issues they profess to care so much about.
The Future of Master of the Wind
No plans on taking the original down anytime soon, we'll be in this for the long haul just like last time (although hopefully not quite as long). Not sure about what will happen after a new one would get released, I like the idea of having both versions out there but we'll see.
"Crystal Dragon Jesus"
Don't sweat the tropes, bro. MotW's page on that site is flipping huge and if I'm not mistaken, has "Crystal Dragon Jesus" on there, and I'm not ashamed of using so many. It's all about the overall experience of the story and that's why a lot of those tropes come up so often - they are very effective.
X-Noir Review
Much appreciated, NeverSilent. Glad you enjoyed this one even in its rough, unfinished current state. When I think about X-Noir now, hindsight seems 20/20...fitting for a game that's about how the past always seems so much simpler than it really was. Storywise, I wish I had introduced certain characters earlier (especially Regina) but other than that, I'm pretty pleased with it.
There was a point in the early development where AB and I were weighing the pros and cons of having combat in the game. We could have gone either way and ultimately decided to give the combat a try and now I'm thinking we shouldn't have. It's funny, back in the MotW days, just having an active battle system at all would have gotten us a lot of praise. But it's different now, people are harder to impress. Good thing I had a lot of passion for the story or we probably would have just stopped the game entirely after the discouraging early reactions.
In the end, I think the best thing we got out of this one was another fictional universe to work in. Obviously, it spun off into Labyrinthine Dreams but we've also had some other ideas for games set there - another one featuring Eddie (after the events in this game) and one featuring Dr. Stanwyck that would be a semi-sequel to LD. We'll see if any of those go anywhere in the future. Thanks again!
There was a point in the early development where AB and I were weighing the pros and cons of having combat in the game. We could have gone either way and ultimately decided to give the combat a try and now I'm thinking we shouldn't have. It's funny, back in the MotW days, just having an active battle system at all would have gotten us a lot of praise. But it's different now, people are harder to impress. Good thing I had a lot of passion for the story or we probably would have just stopped the game entirely after the discouraging early reactions.
In the end, I think the best thing we got out of this one was another fictional universe to work in. Obviously, it spun off into Labyrinthine Dreams but we've also had some other ideas for games set there - another one featuring Eddie (after the events in this game) and one featuring Dr. Stanwyck that would be a semi-sequel to LD. We'll see if any of those go anywhere in the future. Thanks again!
TBoTW3.PNG
X-Noir
I don't know how that ending bug got in there, especially because I tested the final scene numerous times, but here's what happened if you're curious. Spoiler Warning and all that: Beth and Artie visit Eddie at the park, revealing that he worked up the courage to contact them after all.
Ideally, the last update would also fix up the Skype conversations in the credits. Enkur had a really nice mock-up but nothing came of it. Looking forward to the review!
Ideally, the last update would also fix up the Skype conversations in the credits. Enkur had a really nice mock-up but nothing came of it. Looking forward to the review!
World Remade Review
Thanks for the review, Benny. I'm impressed at how in-depth it is.
Regarding the story comments, I had been thinking about some of those issues too. Early on, I decided that because World Remade was so much farther into the past than MotW, that the characters should talk differently. The dialogue in MotW is very modern because it takes place in "modern" Solest. I didn't know it at the time, but the loss of MotW's comic bravado may have been more damaging than I thought. The chapter we were working on does put the characters in a wider variety of situations, so hopefully that would help somewhat.
There will be some flashbacks, mostly near the end of the game, but I also don't want to romanticize the pre-war world. You're not necessarily meant to mourn the past in this story. Obviously, the massive loss of life is devastating but in a cultural/political sense, this is a giant reset button that will have many effects, not all negative. There were definitely issues with pre-ROF Solest and there will be plenty of time to go into them.
As ArtBane alluded to, the game's on hiatus because we're both kept pretty busy by new professional work. It's also tough to maintain the quality of art we've established for a variety of reasons. Hopefully the break will give us some opportunities to reflect and that will do the project good whenever we do come back to it.
Also, NeverSilent, while I have your attention, did you ever finish X-Noir? You seemed like one of the few that might and I'd be curious about your thoughts.
Regarding the story comments, I had been thinking about some of those issues too. Early on, I decided that because World Remade was so much farther into the past than MotW, that the characters should talk differently. The dialogue in MotW is very modern because it takes place in "modern" Solest. I didn't know it at the time, but the loss of MotW's comic bravado may have been more damaging than I thought. The chapter we were working on does put the characters in a wider variety of situations, so hopefully that would help somewhat.
There will be some flashbacks, mostly near the end of the game, but I also don't want to romanticize the pre-war world. You're not necessarily meant to mourn the past in this story. Obviously, the massive loss of life is devastating but in a cultural/political sense, this is a giant reset button that will have many effects, not all negative. There were definitely issues with pre-ROF Solest and there will be plenty of time to go into them.
As ArtBane alluded to, the game's on hiatus because we're both kept pretty busy by new professional work. It's also tough to maintain the quality of art we've established for a variety of reasons. Hopefully the break will give us some opportunities to reflect and that will do the project good whenever we do come back to it.
Also, NeverSilent, while I have your attention, did you ever finish X-Noir? You seemed like one of the few that might and I'd be curious about your thoughts.
Master of the Wind Review
author=Varn
if we're going with the Germany analogy, well, most people are cool with the modern-day Gallians, though some who lived through WWII hold a bit of a grudge (hello Stoic). And the bulk of our major antagonists turn out to be essentially Neo-Nazis.
Thanks for taking that analogy to its logical conclusion. I felt kinda bad when he said that thing about modern Germans. My wife is half-German and I'd like to visit there someday. I wasn't thinking of any part of history that specific with the game though, it was more about how whenever society makes progress, some really scary people come out of the woodwork to try and reverse it. You can still see that happening everywhere these days.
If we ever remade MotW (and who knows, that might happen someday), I would probably try to play up Cade's youth and inexperience more...and have more incriminating evidence for them to find in the mine so it looks like more than just a really good hunch. But I didn't expect people to believe that a guy who's barely an adult is an expert on everything, even if he thinks he is. Maybe it reminds people too much of people they actually know, I had a phase like this in my early 20s too, I think it's part of growing up. I would be curious to hear what the reviewer thought of everything said here, but I think this one was a hit and run and he's not coming back.
Games - Tester
Games - Other
